Cognac and vodka are some of the most popular drinks in Russia. Both are strong alcoholic beverages, but they are produced using different technologies and from different raw materials.
Cognac is made from special grape varieties using a special technology. Vodka is made from wheat alcohol or alcohol based on other grain crops. Each of these drinks is based on ethanol, a monohydric alcohol with the formula C2H5OH. The method of producing ethanol has been known for a long time - it is the fermentation of carbohydrate-containing organic products (fruits, berries, starch, potatoes, rice, corn, wheat, rye, etc.) under the influence of yeast and bacteria.
Cognac alcohol
The only manufacturer that is not located in the province of Poitou-Charentes, but has received the right to call its product cognac, is Nikolay Shustov. At the 1900 World's Fair, after a blind tasting, he was granted this right.
In the French region of Poitou - Charentes, there is the city of Cognac, which gave its name to the popular alcoholic drink. It was here that the recipe for cognac was created and the process of its production began. Now the territory where cognac can be produced and the method of its preparation are protected by law, that is, it is impossible to leave ordinary country grapes to ferment and ferment, and the resulting drink can be called cognac.
Spirits produced using a similar technology in other regions of France, as well as in other countries of the world, are called brandy, even if they are obtained by distilling grape wines.
Trebbiano is the main white grape used to make cognac. This grape is characterized by high acidity, high yields and disease resistance. Some other grape varieties are also used in the production of cognac, but they are much more difficult to grow and are prone to various diseases.
According to traditional technology, when distilling wine, the "Charentes method" includes two stages: obtaining "raw alcohol" and re-distillation.
After harvesting, the grape juice is pressed, which is carried out using special horizontal presses, the peculiarity of which is that they do not crush the berry seeds. Then the juice is sent to fermentation. The production process of cognac is so seriously controlled by the state that no other types of presses are allowed, just as fermentation by adding sugar is strictly prohibited.
After fermentation, the fermented juice undergoes filtration and double distillation, and then is poured into oak barrels and aged for the required number of years.
Wheat alcohol
Rectified alcohol, which forms the basis of vodka, is produced mainly from grain, grain-potato or potato raw materials. In the European Union, any food raw materials of plant origin are allowed for its production. And in the countries of the former USSR, only grain crops are allowed for the production of alcoholic beverages.
Thus, wheat alcohol is a rectified alcohol obtained by fermenting wheat. This is the difference between wheat and cognac alcohols.
